17 Mach 1V

[L461]

I have owned 3 x17 rems over the years a 700 BDL in the late seventies,a Tikka M55 and an L461 Sako.And well the calibre did not "DO" a lot for me.
All that changed last weekend when I picked up a Sako A1 that had been fitted with a Shilen 17 cal barrel chambered in 17 mach 1V
A few hours cleaning , refinishing the stock,floating the barrel and sorting the ammo that came in the deal saw me take it out saturday morning for a sighting session.


Load developement was very very basic with the combination of 221 and 17 fireball cases I decided to start with a charge weight gleaned from this Hallowed site.It was 18.5 grains of Benchmark (BM2) the biggest surprise was the chrono figures of 3909,3887,3902 and 3880 fps
Saturday night saw the little rifle calibre combination doing duty eradicating some ferals.My wife took her first fox with it and she was stoked.
Come sunday afternoon there was very little wind so the young bloke and I decided we should take a couple of rifles for a drive and eradicate a few more ferals.This was to be a sub calibre shoot with the 17 Machball and 20 ppc being used..I set the young bloke up on the bench overlooking a warren at 185m and I used the bipods on the bonnet to shoot over a couple of warrens in the other direction.This allowed me to oversee him as he handled the rifle.Below is his 4 from 6 shot group .I reckon he grew 6" and 5 years yesterday afternoon.I have to say thanks to the forum members for opening my eyes to the sub calibres

[Jim D]

I'm guessin you'll have a hard time pulling that rifle from that young blokes hands !
It's always great to get the young ones out !

Jim

[barryb]

L461 - great looking rifle , well done. I also had a Mach1V with Shilen Barrell built on a Krico action & it shot a dream too.Just loved 22 grain Bergers & then I went to Chan's N in 25 grainers & they shot well also.Great litle fox gun , no blowouts or exits with head shots.
What part of Aus are you in - I'm Hunter Valley NSW.
Good luck with it
BarryB

[L461]

I am Just north of Canberra Barry was your rifle built by Peter Kay ?

Jim TYB claimed the 22 when I started him out so now he reckons this one should be his gunna be a fight between him and his Mum though.

[trevort]

Originally Posted by L461

I am Just north of Canberra Barry was your rifle built by Peter Kay ?

Jim TYB claimed the 22 when I started him out so now he reckons this one should be his gunna be a fight between him and his Mum though.

I bet on Mum!

[Chuck Miller]

How does it feed from the magazine? I'm sitting here with a L461 and a Pacnor barrel thinking I need a 17mk4 repeater. I have a 20vt, if feeds but not as slick as it did when it was a 222.

Stock turned out nice, great horizontal stripping in the butt of that one.

[barryb]

L461
I know of Peter Kay from Dubbo & I've heard he does good work but mine was done by a friend from the Penrith area.
He's since done 2 17 Rems, AH & fireball.
Are the bunnies getting thick now in your area , over here they only get just past 1/2 grown before Cal Virus gets them.
Cheers
BarryB

[xring]

L461 , I've seen a lot of A1's and that's the nicest wood I've seen on any . They are usually pretty plain . Question : what's a warren , and what does it look like ?

[L461]

Originally Posted by Chuck Miller

How does it feed from the magazine? I'm sitting here with a L461 and a Pacnor barrel thinking I need a 17mk4 repeater. I have a 20vt, if feeds but not as slick as it did when it was a 222.

Stock turned out nice, great horizontal stripping in the butt of that one.

Some before shots


Chuck the follower has been shortened and a block fitted to the front to act as a feed ramp and it feeds every bit as good as my 222.Another member here from Downunder cam_mackps2 has a 17 fireball on an L461 that is unmodified that seems to feed very well.

XRing a "warren" is a colloquial term for a rabbit burrow with multiple entrance and exit holes some of the older warrens can cover a 1/4 acre most Warrens around here are probably 30 ft round when rabbit numbers are high the areas around the homes are devoid of grass.

Barry I am no scientist but have noticed that calici seems to work better with a wetter summer season.I have read where John has moved his shop out to the Blue Mountains

[Kevin Gullette]

This was once a 17-223 H&R 317 rifle.

Before I bought it Todd K. rebarrelled it to 17 Mach IV.......many years ago.

It feeds ok.

Kevin